Miscellaneous

Vending Business Employee Hiring And What To Expect From Them

Background Check

A question that is asked frequently is “Should I do background checks on my vending business employees?” In the vending business your employees will be handling a lot of cash. The types of accounts you will be going into are diverse and some will have background check requirements.

It would be a good idea to get into the habit of doing a background check on every employee you hire. Remember, they will be handling your cash, a percent of your customers will require it, and it is a good selling point when you are soliciting new business.

It also will include a credit check so you should have an idea if they are financially responsible.

Drug Tests

A drug test is also something you will want to have each new employee take. There are a couple of reasons why. If an employee has a drug habit they are more likely to steal from you.

If an employee is found to have a drug habit after you have employed them, you may be forced to pay for their treatment program. It could also affect your vending business vehicle and health insurance premiums.

Insurance Check

Before hiring a new employee for your vending business you will want to give your vehicle insurance company a call. Give them the prospective new hires full name, driver’s license number, and social security number.

The insurance company will normally do a check on them for you at no charge. If the insurance company comes back and says they won't insure them then you will not want to hire them.

Good Employee Traits

In the vending business you need people who are well organized. They also need to be timely and are the type of person who is detailed oriented. It is also important to have drivers that are willing to stay until the job is done.

Another important trait is that they have a pleasant personality. The route person will be on the front line with a lot of customer contact.

Physical Demands

The physical demands on a route driver are not that heavy. The heaviest item they will be lifting would be approximately 60lbs. The route driver does a lot of bending and squatting during the normal business day.

Having a new driver go in for a DOT physical is the law depending upon the size of vehicle they will be driving (check with your local DOT). This is also a good way to find out if they have any physical problems that may hinder them from doing their job.

Do Women Or Men Make The Best Drivers?

I would say that this would be a toss up. Women in general pay more attention to details. It always depends more on the individual than anything else. I have noticed that those who do not keep their own personal vehicles neat and orderly are not very well organized.

Good management is a vital part of having good employees. If you value each of your employees it helps them to build pride in themselves.

I, myself, am in the minority but I believe that if you run your business as an open book your people will have a better understanding of why you do the things you do. This also will make them more inclined to join in and help you through some of the tougher times.

Starting Time In Vending Route Sales

Starting time is normally 5:00 am. Most individual routes will normally be centered on one or two accounts. These are your larger accounts and they will get the prime time of day delivery.

The best time to service these accounts is first thing in the morning. This is the time most accounts want you in their location. By being in these accounts early you will more than likely be able to avoid their break and lunch times.

The smaller accounts are not as much trouble to service during their busier times (lunch and breaks) for the simple reason there are fewer people trying to use your vending machines.

You will want to give each of your accounts the respect they deserve, because the owners of these businesses are the cream of the crop in their communities. They are the people creating jobs and they deserve your respect. After all, most likely they are a larger employer than you are.

Paying Your Employees By The Hour Or Commission

There are two schools of thought on this subject. The first one is if you pay your drivers by commission they will want to make more sales so they can make more money.

The second school of thought is that by paying the driver by the hour she will take the time to do a good job knowing they are being compensated for doing so.

My thoughts on this are to pay a fair hourly wage. I have seen too many vending business companies pay on a commission basis so that they can work employees long hours. This can end up being less than minimum wage.

If you are going to pay by commission make sure it is a fair commission and not just a way to avoid paying overtime. Treat your employees well and you will have less turn over. This translates into fewer mistakes and means you will have happier customers, which in turn will fuel the growth of your company. While you may be a
home based business,
now that you are hiring employees it might be a good time to find a bookkeeper.

How Much Work Can Be Expected From Employees?

If your route is fairly tight when it is comes to the amount of driving you should be able to expect a single driver to produce $7,000.00 to $8,000.00 in sales per week.

A dual route (two drivers per vehicle) should be able to produce $14,000.00 to $15,000.00 per week. The main advantage of a dual route is that if there is a customer that needs service on the weekend the drivers can trade off working on the weekends.

Employee Reviews

Most employers will do an annual review of each of their employees. If management uses good communication on a daily basis the annual review should not have many negatives in it. In any review the reviewer should always begin and end talking about positives the employee has.

Let’s face it, nobody enjoys being criticized and there is no need in it if management is doing its job.

I've had many people ask to speak with me. For those of you that have read my web site but still would like to ask me a few questions I'm now making that possible.

If you have a few questions about the vending or snack box business I'm now doing consulting on a limited basis. I do enjoy talking with people in the business or those thinking of getting into the business but time is the limiting factor.

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